Monday, January 19, 2009

"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

13 comments:

As a child of the 40’s and 50’s in the mountains of North Georgia, I have been on both sides of the race issue. I attended an all white school, there were black/white drinking fountains and bathrooms. I never knew a black person until I went into the Army in 1960. I got to tell you it was a shock for this redneck boy to find himself sleeping, eating, and bathing with black folks. The strange part is that after just a few days I learned that they were people, just like me.

MLK and lots of other folks worked to call attention to the injustice that faced the black people. He had a dream, and yes a part of that dream will come true tomorrow but when I see what has happened to the black family in America, I think MLK would not be happy if he were here today.

Ah, YES! Mimi, it is a day that we've been waiting for for a long time! May he bring is peace and hope! BTW yes, it's a pencil holder made by my husband's mother in ceramics class years and years ago! :) Thanks for the complimentary comment at Ruby Tuesday. :)